Nutrition Department

Overview of the department

Chairman Prof. Yasuo Hirono

Chairman
Prof. Yasuo Hirono

Under the guidance of the chairman and vice-chairman, the Nutrition Department is organized into two sections: Nutritional Management Section and Nutrition Support Team (NST). The former is responsible for the development of nutritional management plans, hospital meal services, and nutrition education programs, and the latter is for the nutritional management of high-risk patients and promotion of nutritional knowledge through workshops and other programs.

System and principles of intervention

Our aim is to provide nutrition care services based on the concept of human nutrition, in which the human rights and QOL of patients are respected, as well as high-quality, pleasing, and safe meal services.
○Nutrition and dietary counseling for out- and inpatients: Monday to Friday excluding holidays.
○Group sessions: Classes for diabetics, kidney failure patients, patients receiving anticoagulants, and mothers.

Nutritional management and the NST

Based on the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) completed by nurses within 48 hr of admission, physicians, nurses, and dietitians screen patients for their nutritional status upon admission to identify those in need of intensive nutritional management, for whom dietitians develop nutritional management plans.
Patients who are identified through nutrition assessment as being at high risk of undernutrition and those considered by medical staff as having nutritional problems are referred to the NST for support.
Members of the NST, including physicians, dietitians, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, and speech therapists, have weekly NST conferences and ward rounds.
The NST also provides monthly classes and annual textbook-based workshops (seven sessions) for interested personnel from our hospital and affiliated clinics and facilities.

Hospital meals

Aiming to serve meals within 2 hr after cooking, we replaced our previous food service system incorporating the “cook-serve” and “cook-chill” methods with a new one using “new cook-chill” and “cook-serve” methods.
Because most food-poisoning bacteria grow at 20-50°C, it is important not to let foods remain in this temperature range. To this end, we need to reduce the time needed for preparation at room temperature, cool foods rapidly after heating, and store them at 5°C or below in refrigerators or at 65°C or above in heating cabinets.
Meals are reheated in food carts equipped with a superheated steam heater, which is the first of its kind in Japan. The use of superheated steam allows uniform reheating in a short time.
Along with the replacement of the food service system, we have adopted super-durable dishes (i.e., resistant to superheated steam) produced using new technology developed through the collaboration of industry, the government, and academia, and traditional craftspersonship of Echizen lacquerware.
Menus are based on a 28-day cycle, with more than 450 regular and therapeutic diet menus for a meal, along with a variety of additional options for beverages and grain foods. We also provide special diets, such as a dysphagia diet, raw-food-avoidance diet, and diets for patients receiving chemo- and/or radiotherapy, to meet the specific needs of each patient.